The Terra probe continues to bring trouble to the South Korean crypto ecosystem. Reports suggest that the country’s authorities took the investigation a step ahead on Wednesday with latest moves. The probe is currently ongoing over the fraud allegations on the Terraform Labs management.
Raids On South Korean Crypto Exchanges
According to reports, the prosecutors had earlier on Wednesday raided several cryptocurrency exchanges. The searches, it is believed, are related to the fraud allegations on the Terra network collapse. At around 5 pm local time, the prosecutors began taking control of documents and other data sources from the companies.
The report mentioned that Upbit, one of the country’s major crypto exchanges, was among those raided by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office. Earlier this year in May, Terra investors accused Terra CEO Do Kwon of fraud to the tune of several billions with the collapse. Recently, LUNA Classic (LUNC) price increased heavily after Binance announced it will launch new perpetual contracts for the token.
Terra Probe Goes All Out On Korea Bigwigs
The probe by Korean prosecutors appears centered not just on the country’s crypto players but also some of the large commercial banks. According to a Bloomberg report, the authorities have also questioned banks for any links to potential fraud. The banks are questioned over the possibility of “money laundering or currency speculation using crypto assets.” Among the big local banks approached by the authorities are Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank, the report added.
“The regulator is examining whether laws on money laundering and foreign exchange trading were broken. Regulators have strengthened collaboration with the country’s prosecutors on the probe.”
Trending Stories
According to a Shinhan Bank representative, a regulatory probe is under way while the the exact size of the transaction is yet to be known. Also, the prosecutors are also looking at the relation between the said transaction and local crypto exchanges. It appears that at the centre of the probe is whether there were any abnormal payments made to stakeholders abroad. Hence, the commercial banks form an epicenter of the search for abnormal international transactions.